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MYOMETRIAL ACTIVATION – COORDINATION, CONNECTIVITY AND CONTRACTILITY

Part of: Bespoke shallow archive Weizmann

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2007

DAVID A MACINTYRE ,
ENG-CHENG CHAN  and
ROGER SMITH
DAVID A MACINTYRE
Affiliation:
Mothers and Babies Research Centre, The University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
ENG-CHENG CHAN
Affiliation:
Mothers and Babies Research Centre, The University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
ROGER SMITH*
Affiliation:
Mothers and Babies Research Centre, The University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
*
Roger Smith, Mothers and Babies Research Centre, The University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, 1 Lookout Road, New Lambton Heights, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
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Extract

One of the most important stages of pregnancy is the activation of uterine contractions that result in the expulsion of the fetus. The timely onset of labour is clearly important for a healthy start to life but incomplete understanding of the precise mechanisms regulating labour onset have prohibited the development of effective and safe treatments for preterm labour. This review explores the activation of the myometrium at labour onset, focussing on mechanisms of uterine contractility, including those proteins that play an important role in smooth muscle contractility. The review primarily focuses on human work but in the absence of human data describes animal studies. A broad overview of myometrial contraction mechanisms is provided before discussing more detailed aspects and identifying areas where uncertainty remains. Also discussed is the recent application of ‘omics’ based approaches to parturition research, which has facilitated an increase in the understanding of myometrial activation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Fetal and Maternal Medicine Review , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , November 2007 , pp. 333 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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